I've found that it helps to be continuously considering how to
make it "very easy" for members to serve each other.
To help make it easier for members to connect here are a few ideas:
1. Provide an excuse. Create an Activities Committee to plan and
host activities. Once an activity is set up, the active
members then have an excuse to contact the less active members.
2. Remove all ambiguity regarding: who what when where why and how.
Use an announcement newsletter, bulletin boards, and flyers.
Also announce activities from the pulpit and during Sunday School
classes.
3. Make things convenient. Find or develop "convenience." Look
for natural confluences of events
and see how to maximize them.
The power of "Confluence"
According to Dictionary.com we read that a confluence is:
1. a flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like:
the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
2. their place of junction: St. Louis is at the confluence of the
Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
3. a body of water formed by the flowing together of two or more
streams, rivers, or the like.
4. a coming together of people or things; concourse.
Confluences often occur in nature. Or in other words they occur
naturally under the right conditions.
Thus as missionaries and church leaders we need to ask, how can we
nudge "conditions" so that confluences between members occur in
seemingly natural almost effortless ways.
We need to look for situations where we can bring about such
confluences. By "finding" the situations we don't have to "create"
the situations but rather we simply make use of the existing
situation to bring about a confluence that might not have existed
without our nudging.
Here is an example of one such confluence.
At my church one of the members enjoys going on hikes during the
summer months. She plans them out goes "just because" she
likes to.
Since she is going hiking, and has already made the effort to plan
out a hike, it only takes a few keystrokes on the computer (a nudge)
to invite 50 church members to join the hike which has the potential
of creating a confluence. And indeed it does. There are
generally at least 5 or more other members of the congregation that
show up for the hikes. They spend time together doing
something fun, chatting, and building connections while getting some
fresh air and exercise.